Asphodel by Jane Lindskold

Author:Jane Lindskold [Lindskold, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Jane Lindskold
Published: 2017-12-17T05:00:00+00:00

“Seek, then, after Osiris. Just remember, hide your names.”

She motions for me to rejoin Muriel and Puck. As I pad over to them, I find myself caught in sudden cold shock. I realize that I have no idea what name I would have given the cow-girl, for I can’t remember what my name is. Suddenly, I wish she had let me finish giving her our names, so I could have learned what I might have said. Whatever had been at the tip of my tongue, it is gone now.

Among the gathered teams, we are far from the strangest. There are shaven-headed priests who consult papyri, presumable in hope that the sacred texts will offer some clue. There are numerous odd creatures, all or partially monstrous, including one made up of really buff guys with wings and the heads of hawks. There are family groups, teams of warriors, and even what looks to be a cluster of dust devils, defined only by the detritus they have picked up from their surroundings and a slight sparkling of sand.

When the word is given to begin, we set off at random. I let Muriel take the lead in making suggestions, saying (truthfully) that she is better than me at this sort of thing, but also because (less truthfully) what the cow-girl had said had really unsettled me. Am I avoiding anything? Immediately, I recall the unicorn. It had wanted to tell me something and I’ve gone out of my way to keep from learning whatever that might have been.

The sky above is perfectly blue. The area in which we search is as ideal a segment of the Nile Valley as any could desire: golden sands, stark rock, distant purple cliffs, scattered ruins, palm-tree shaded oases. Our competition is fearsome and focused. The opposition (which is completely different from the competition in that they have, like us, agreed to follow the rules of the search) is terrifying, being servants of a god who had not only murdered his brother but had dismembered said brother – and who later had sought to poison his brother’s posthumously born son, but that is a whole ‘nother issue.

Yet I am so distracted that had Puck and Muriel not looked out for me, I would have fallen into the first trap we encounter. This is a pit filled with venomous serpents, amateurishly covered with palm leaves over which sand has been unconvincingly spread as concealment. After that mishap, I force myself to be more alert.

We hadn’t been given any clues as to where to begin our search, but Muriel has a brainstorm. She suggests that the landscape itself might provide clues as to hiding places. Following her suggestion, we seek the “head” at the “headwater” of one of the Niles. There we are attacked by some curious monsters that look like a hybridization of a donkey, a jackal, and something snake-like. They have teeth that remind me very much of our acquaintance the crocodile, as well as a green poisonous gas attack right out of a nightmare.

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